Taliban insurgents overran a district in eastern Afghanistan, killing and wounding dozens of police and soldiers and threatening strategically important road routes to Pakistan, officials said on Saturday.

Abdul Rahman Solamal, governor of Jani Khel district, in the eastern province of Paktia said that after heavy overnight fighting, security forces had pulled out of the district, which sits at an intersection linking eight districts and which connects Paktia with neighboring Khost province and Pakistan.

Some 36 of the 407 districts in the country were under insurgent control or influence, while another 104 were deemed at risk.

“Our district was surrounded by Taliban for almost five days,” he told Reuters. “Hundreds of them attacked our check posts overnight.

“If we do not retake it soon then Taliban can easily move from one province to another and can undermine security in at least three provinces,” he said.

The attack comes amid heavy fighting in other parts of Afghanistan, notably in the southern province of Helmand, where US military advisers have been deployed to bolster the defenses, and around the northern city of Kunduz, which fell briefly to the insurgents last year.

More than 20 soldiers and police were killed and another 20 wounded in the fighting overnight, while some 200 Taliban insurgents were killed, Solamal said. There was no immediate means of verifying the claims of Taliban casualties.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement dozens of Afghan soldiers and police had been killed in Jani Khel and large amounts of equipment had been captured, including armored vehicles, light and heavy weapons and ammunition.

According to US estimates reported in July by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a Congressional oversight body, Afghan forces control or influence just under 66 percent of the national territory, down from just over 70 percent at the start of the year.

The reduction was partly due to security forces pulling back from exposed areas and concentrating their strength, but after a lull following the death of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in May the Taliban have stepped up their summer offensive.

Some 36 of the 407 districts in the country were under insurgent control or influence, while another 104 were deemed “at risk,” SIGAR said.

Of course, none of those districts are in areas where General Dostum is in control...

A mine planted by Boko Haram terrorist group exploded under a Chadian military vehicle and killed four servicemen on board, media reported on Saturday, citing a source in the country's security service, Sputnik International reported.

"An army car hit a mine planted by Boko Haram at Kaiga Kindji, near the border of Chad and Niger. There were four dead and a dozen wounded," the source told the Vanguard media outlet.

According to the media, the bombing was the last in a series of attacks on Chadian soldiers perpetrated by Boko Haram group.

France has deported two Moroccan nationals seen as a serious security threat after they became radicalized as extremist militants, the interior ministry said in a statement late on Friday.

“Given the serious threat posed by their continuous stay on French soil, the interior ministry has decided to expel them immediately,” the statement said without giving any further details about the individuals.

It said six expulsions had already been carried out under similar circumstances in August, taking the total to 15 since the start of the year.

Suspected Kurdish militants fired rockets at the airport in Turkey's main southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Saturday, sending passengers and staff scrambling for shelter, Dogan news agency said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Four rockets were fired at a police checkpoint outside the VIP lounge, and passengers and staff were taken inside the terminal building for safety, the private news agency said. The attack happened not long before midnight (2100 GMT) on Saturday.

Broadcaster NTV said the rockets landed on wasteland nearby. There were no casualties and no disruption to flights, Diyarbakir governor Huseyin Aksoy told the news channel.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Diyarbakir is the main city in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast, where Kurdish militants have waged a three-decade insurgency. The attack comes days after Turkey launched a military incursion into Syria aimed at driving back ISIS and preventing territorial gains by Kurdish fighters.

Rebels supported by Turkey fought Kurdish-backed forces in northern Syria on Saturday, and Ankara said it had launched air strikes against both Kurdish militia fighters and Islamic State.

Turkey fears Kurdish militia fighters will fill the void as ISIS is pushed back. It wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of a continuous stretch of Syrian territory on its frontier, which it fears could deepen the insurgency by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants on its own soil.

Diyarbakir airport largely handles domestic flights and is served by carriers including Turkish Airlines.

The PKK, which first took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union. A ceasefire collapsed just over a year ago, and violence has since surged.

[DAWN] QUETTA: Security forces have tossed in the calaboose... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... six suspected hard boys, one of them belie­ved to be a leader of the hard boyIslamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group, during a combing operation in the Nushki area of Balochistan...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... on Friday night.

"Some of the arrested bully boyz belong to Al Qaeda," a security official said. "Literature and videos of the IS and Al Qaeda, kaboom, laptops and wireless sets have been seized from them."

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said that on a tip-off about the presence of hard boys, security forces along with personnel of intelligence agencies raided a compound near the Afghan border and made the arrests.

The IS leader was recruiting people by persuading them to join jihad, he said.

[RUDAW.NET] An Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... leader was killed in Arclight airstrikes by the US-led coalition in the ISIS-occupied city of djinn-infested Mosul... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... in northern Iraq, sources told Rudaw on Saturday.

Abu Yahya Alwaizi, described as a ranking ISIS leader who also had fought in the Syrian city of Aleppo, was killed in the city’s al-Shurah district, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity... for fear of being murdered....

Coalition Arclight airstrikes on Mosul come ahead of an anticipated offensive to liberate the city, which has been ISIS’s stronghold in Iraq since its capture by the hard boyz in June 2014.

Salahuddin – A well placed source in Salahuddin province informed that two ISIS members were killed after the security sources repulsed their attack near Baiji in northern Tikrit.

Sharing further details with Iraqi News the source informed, “This morning, joint security forces repulsed an ISIS attack, carried out targeting the Thermal Energy Complex in eastern Baiji district. In the attack, two ISIS members were killed by the security forces.”

The source added, “The joint security forces also destroyed an ISIS booby-trapped vehicle in the attack.”

Nineveh – Media official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Mosul, Saeed Mamouzini, informed that the five Kurdish men from Rojava held captive by ISIS were shot dead by five ISIS child soldiers. The execution was filmed and the video was released by ISIS for the world to see.

In the video, total of 15 captives were executed in three separate scenes. Five were shot by the child soldiers and the remaining 10 were killed by adult members of the terror outfit. The identities of rest of the ten men are not yet known.

It may be mentioned here that the children appear to be of five different nationalities- British, Kurdish, Tunisian, Egyptian, and Uzbekistani. The Kurdish captives were reportedly killed in retaliation for recent Kurdish advances in Syria.

Nineveh – The Iraqi military media cell announced that 12 ISIS militants were killed in international coalition airstrikes to the south of Mosul city.

The cell, in a statement received by Iraqi News, said, “International coalition aircraft carried out an airstrike on Friday evening, which destroyed a cache of ISIS weapons and also killed 12 ISIS members of the outfit. Attack was carried out in Sadia village.”

“Meanwhile, in the explosion of car carrying explosive devices, over 10 ISIS men were killed in Makouk village located on the road linking Qayyarah with Makhmour,” the statement further added.

[Bangkok Post] A local leader was shot dead in full view of many villagers at a tea shop in Pattani province on Saturday morning. The shooting occurred at the shop in Yaring district.

Abdulloh Seedeh, kamnan of tambon Takae, was drinking tea with some other local residents when he was attacked by a group of four men aboard a pickup truck, witnesses said. The men stopped their vehicle in front of the shop and some of them sprayed bullets from M16 rifles at Abdulloh, forcing other villagers to flee.

Abulloh recieved serious gunshot wounds and died at the spot, while others escaped unhurt.

[RUDAW.NET] Kurdish and Turkish forces have reportedly clashed in several locations in northern Syria and Rojava and there are reports of civilian casualties from Turkish shelling and Arclight airstrikes.

The Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) reported on Twitter Saturday morning that civilians had been killed and injured in Turkish Arclight airstrikes and shelling south of Jarablus.

The Jarablus Military Council, formed by the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) confirmed the Arclight airstrikes in a statement, calling it "a dangerous escalation that threatens the fate of the region."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that YPG and Turkish forces had clashed both in Afrin, the western-most canton of the Kurdish Rojava in northern Syria, and north of Hasakah, close to Syria’s border with Iraq.

The Observatory on Saturday morning said there was "an exchange of gunfire between YPG and the Turkish forces" in the countryside north of Hasakah, in the triangle of land between the Turkish and Iraqi borders. It is unclear if Turkish forces were on Syrian territory or had fired across the border.

On Friday, the Observatory reported that Turkish forces used heavy machinegun fire in the Afrin countryside, an area under control of the YPG.

They did not report any casualties in either incident.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... crossed into Syria on Wednesday as part of an offensive with the Free Syrian Army... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... to rout Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) gunnies from the town of Jarablus and eliminate "terrorists" on its border, referring to both ISIS and the YPG. Turkish border towns have been repeatedly shelled by ISIS in northern Syria.

Both Syria and Iran consider the move a violation of Syrian illusory sovereignty and have asked Turkey to respect international principles and laws.

Colonel Ahmad Osman, a commander of the Sultan Murad, one of the Syrian rebel groups who participated in the Jarablus operation, told Rooters on Friday that their forces were moving west from Jarablus toward Marea, about 70 kilometres away.

"Liberating these villages between Jarablus and Marea requires weeks and perhaps months, according to the nature of the battles," Osman said.

He added that they did not want to fight the Kurdish forces but would do so if necessary.

[RUDAW.NET] A source close to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) reported Saturday evening that Turkish troops have been advancing toward the city of Kobani.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity... for fear of being murdered..., said that the Turkish forces, using bulldozers, have been digging trenches near Kobani’s Mursheed Pnary gate.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... crossed into Syria on Wednesday as part of an offensive with the Free Syrian Army... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) to rout Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) Death Eaters from the town of Jarablus and eliminate "terrorists" on its border, referring to both ISIS and the YPG. Turkish border towns have been repeatedly shelled by ISIS in northern Syria.

Earlier Saturday, the YPG announced that Turkish planes had bombarded its forces, while on the ground they had clashed with FSA forces backed by Turkey and with the Syrian Democratic forces (SDF).

The YPG said in a tweet earlier Saturday that civilians had been killed and maimed in the Turkish Arclight airstrikes and shelling south of Jarablus.

In Derik and around Manbij, festivities took place between YPG and Turkish forces on Saturday. The YPG said that Turkish bombing of areas in Syrian Kurdistan, or Rojava, was ongoing.

On Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Turkish forces used heavy machinegun fire in the Afrin countryside, an area under the control of YPG.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is cleaning Jarablus of mines and explosives planted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants before their withdrawal from the northern Syrian town, Anadolu Agency reported.

FSA sources told the agency that about 20 explosives were detonated on Aug. 26, with the operations continuing. Soldiers are examining evacuated houses and removing mines and explosives planted at the border with Turkey.

The FSA has gained full control of Jarablus district, part of Aleppo province in northern Syria, following “Operation Euphrates Shield” launched by the Turkish Armed Forces and an international anti-ISIL coalition.

The operation began early Aug. 24 when artillery and airstrikes were followed by Turkish tanks crossing the border to target ISIL in support of FSA fighters.

Jarablus is located one kilometer from the Turkish-Syrian border.

An Anadolu Agency reporter in Jarablus reports that life is returning to normal days after “Euphrates Shield” started, with many workplaces re-opening and children playing on the streets.

Turkish warplanes struck civilian homes and positions held by a group allied to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance in a village south of Jarablus on Saturday, the group said in a statement.

The Jarablus Military Council, part of the Kurdish-backed SDF, said the attack on the village of al-Amarna caused civilian casualties and called it “a dangerous escalation that threatens the fate of the region.”

There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.

A Reuters witness saw unidentified warplanes flying over the border region into Syria from Turkey early on Saturday morning, followed by the sound of explosions.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

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